Regional notebook: ESPN'S Walsh to emcee sports commission breakfast

Published 12:03 pm, Saturday, April 21, 2012

ESPN commentator Sara Walsh will be the emcee for the fifth annual Fairfield County Sports Commission's Celebrity Breakfast, which has Kristine Lilly as its featured speaker. The breakfast is Thursday, May 3 at 7:30 am at the Continental Manor in Norwalk. Walsh has been at ESPN since 2010 and works as an anchor for ESPNews. She is a former collegiate soccer player at the University of North Florida. Lilly, a Wilton native, is a U.S. women's soccer legend as a two-time Olympic gold medal winner and two-time World Cup champion. For more information and to reserve a seat or table for the breakfast contact Tom Chiappetta at 203-984-4806 or tomchip21@aol.com.

The Cape Cod Open golf championship is May 30-31 on Cape Cod, Mass. The first 18 holes of the $25,000, 54-hole individual stroke-play tournament will be played at Olde Barnstable GC. After a cut to the low 80 and ties, the second and third rounds will be played at Hyannis GC. A field of 160 is expected to compete. Mark Dziubina of Shelton was the low amateur last year. Entries and additional information are available at www.ccopen.com.

Three teams out of Milford Indoor Tennis will compete in the state junior championships Aug. 7-9 at Conard High School in West Hartford. The 12-and-under team (Milford Trojans) took first place in their Southern Connecticut junior team flight by going undefeated, with Grace Hiza, 10, of Milford and Albert Andrew Ilie, 9, of Stratford each posting an 8-0 record. Their 18-and-under team (Milford Dragons) also went undefeated this season and finished in second place while the 14-and-under team (Milford Huskies) came in second place for their flight with a 6-2 record.

The Stratford Brakettes have set their softball clinics schedule for DeLuca Field. Under the director of Manager John Stratton and assistant Amber Radomski, the clinics run from June 28 through July 13. They are open to girls ages 8 through high school seniors and they are instructional in nature.

There are two identical Beginning Pitching Sessions (#1 and #3) and one Catching Session (#2), as well as skills sessions for Offense/Hitting (#4) and Defense/Fielding/Throwing (#5). With the exception of Catching, which is a one-day event, the other sessions are two days and run from 9:30 a.m. to 12 noon daily.

The Catching session is Tuesday, July 3 at DeLuca Field. The proper mechanics used in catching, learning to properly make the throw to second base, blocking pitches in the dirt, as well as all the intricacies of the position will be taught by the Brakettes catchers.

The Beginning Pitching starts with the fundamentals of pitching, developing a motion, and progresses through the different grips and spins used in the rise ball, drop, curve, and change of pace. The first sessioAll aspects of Offense/Hitting will be covered in Session #4 on Monday-Tuesday, July 9-10, while the fundamentals of Fielding, Throwing, and defensive situations will be covered in Session #5 on Thursday-Friday, July 12-13.

In addition to Stratton and his coaching staff, the 2012 Brakettes' players will be participating in each of the clinics. Rachele Fico, Brandice Balschmiter and Stephanie Call will be assisting in the pitching session, while Mandie Fishback, Ashley Waters, Carly Normandin and Radomski are some of the position players who will also be in attendance.

With the exception of the Catching Clinic which is $50, the two-day sessions are $90 each with discounts available for attending multiple clinics. All clinic participants receive a complimentary season pass good for all 2012 Brakettes regular season home games.

For additional information, call 203-378-7262; r-mail our office at brakettes05@hotmail.com; or go to our website at www.brakettes.com to download a copy of the clinic brochure.